Can Brown escape the axe?

It was a news alert from the BBC around 12:35 PM that alerted me to the story that “Two former UK cabinet ministers text all Labour MPs seeking secret ballot on Gordon Brown leadership.”

The story then went ahead to dominate the media coverage throughout the day and night, surpassing the snow that blanket the UK these days.

According to the BBC “two ex-Cabinet ministers called for a secret ballot of Labour MPs to decide on Mr Brown’s leadership.

“No ministers and only a handful of Labour MPs publicly supported the move.

“But the BBC has learnt plotters against Mr Brown felt six Cabinet ministers may back them in the “right circumstances”.

The UK PM had come under attack from opposition parties before, accusing him of incompetence as did Vincent Cable of the Liberal Democrat in 2007, and now the fire is burning from his inner chamber after escaping two previous attempt by his allies to topple him in the last two years.

Stalin to Mr Bean

It was November 2007, the then acting Liberal Democrat leader, Vincent Cable turned the PM to a laughing stock, by remarking during a parliament session that he had noted Mr Brown’s “remarkable transformation in the last few weeks from Stalin to Mr Bean”.

The Telegraph newspaper then remarked that “The day must soon dawn when Gordon Brown starts to wonder whether this country is worthy of him. Our great leader has declined at breathtaking speed from father of the nation, able to defend his grateful people against every peril from al-Qa’eda to bluetongue disease, into a laughing stock.”

I can recall watching the parliamentary session live on television and my first reaction was, this can never happen in my country. And if it does happen, then whoever make that remark, must face the consequences of his action, the least of which is to block him from getting re-election during the next poll.

Now Mr. Brown’s competency is being challenged by his party members, Former cabinet minsters Patricia Hewitt and Geoff Hoon, who sent text messages to Labour MPs asking them to ballot on the desirability of the PM to lead Labour party to the next general election.

As this is not enough, The Independent news paper today released what it called the “poll of polls” which shows “the Conservatives on 40 per cent, Labour on 29 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 19 per cent. These figures would give Mr Cameron an overall majority of 20 at a general election.”

Although some of Brown’s cabinet ministers have come out publically to announce their support for his continued leadership, the incident has indeed strengthened the conviction that all is not well withing the Labour circle and that truly there are people withing the party who are not happy with Brown’s leadership.